Meh. Needs more swords.
Sometimes my brother
makes bad decisions when it comes to buying games. Very bad decisions -- like buying every new
installment/spinoff of the Dynasty
Warriors series in spite of the soft-ban I’ve placed. Or maybe he’ll go out of his way to buy a
fighting game -- one that he’s already traded in -- with the intent of having
it replace his addiction hobby of Street
Fighter 4 and Marvel vs. Capcom 3…only
to play it about three times and let it decay within a CD case.
Transcending history
and the world, a tale of souls and swords eternally retold…that’s the series’
famous tagline, so to speak. The swords
in question: Soul Edge, an evil life-consuming, shape-shifting blade, and Soul
Calibur, a divine weapon and Edge’s counterpart. The souls?
The (inexplicably attractive) people that gather together to try and
collect them. Fighting and fashion shows
ensue.
What’s interesting
about this fifth game is that it’s a reboot of sorts -- one that automatically
earns bonuses for calling itself Soulcalibur
5 and not just Soulcalibur. It’s bringing the franchise back after a
several-year absence; in-universe, it’s skipping time ahead by 17 years. It’s a chance to bring in some new faces, and
get some fan approval by seeing how the mainstays fared as they aged. It sounds like an awesome idea with lots of
potential…and it would have worked perfectly if most of the new guys weren’t
copies of old characters and more
than three of the old guys actually aged.
There’s some hand-waving in that the non-agers have fragments of Soul
Edge inside them, but come on. Nearly
two decades, and they can’t be arsed to even change their hairstyle?
Well, whatever. More fan-joy to be had, that’s all. And when you get down to it, most die-hard
fans and fighting game enthusiasts consider the story as a mere diversion. It’s all about that gameplay. And what’s there is definitely good. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the
best at fighting games; I’m lucky to link my attacks in Street Fighter 4. But with Soulcalibur 5, you’ve got basic attack
strings you can dial in and fire off. In
layman’s terms: you don’t have to press buttons in as little a space as one
sixtieth of a second. A one-two tap is
all you need to swing your sword twice.
That means that, instead of sweating over whether or not your combo will
come out, you can focus more on strategic matters.
Here, Pyrrha practices the art of OH GOD DON'T HIT ME Fu.
The game is very
fast-paced, but there’s more depth besides “Whoa holy cow man I gotta mash this
button to win bam jam slam!” Movement
and positioning are key, as well as the type of attack you throw out. You move on a 3D plane in any direction; you
can move to dodge many of the game’s vertical attacks by sidestepping to a
character’s left or right. But
sidestepping gets crushed by horizontal attacks. But horizontal attacks get crushed by ducking
or jumping -- or better yet, just plain blocking. But blocking gets crushed by throws. But throws get crushed by throw escapes or
ducking. Taking into account the fact
that you have to fend off high and low attacks, unblockable attacks, and you realize the importance of
staying quick on your feet. Unless
you’ve got an awesome offense going and have powers that make Criss Angel look
like an amateur, there’s no way you can block everything. The alternative is like trying to play
rock-paper-scissors with the 8th Edition rule set that allows dome,
landslide, book, laser, and wildebeest.
Wildebeest beats laser.
In spite of that, you
have a better chance of blocking and evading in this game than, say, Marvel vs. Capcom 3. In Marvel,
there are times where you have to block five attacks at once -- to say nothing
of a little thing called “unblockable setups.”
They’re as nasty as they sound, and unlike Soulcalibur’s unblockable attacks,
unblockable setups can come right the
hell outta nowhere. The question of
“which way do I block?” is always prevalent of course, but it’s easier to avert
with a 3D plane to traverse. Because of
that, you aren’t asking yourself “Oh crap, how am I gonna stop this guy from
cracking me open like an egg?” and asking “All right, how do I open this guy up
while protecting myself?” You can
button-mash, but unless you’re aware of your strategy and your opponent’s,
don’t expect a lot of wins.
But what’s most
important is how well you know and use your character. Remember how I said that there are only a few
genuinely new faces? And remember a few weeks back when I mentioned how
important it is to have a character you resonate with? Well it’s only been two days, but I’m feeling Viola. With a metal claw on one hand, she does her
best impression of Freddy Kruger; where things get really crazy is how she uses
a magic orb to attack. She doesn’t just bash people over the head with them
-- she sends it out like a missile. And
she can use it to attack autonomously; throw it out, then call it back to you
to smack enemies in the head on the return trip. Or lay it low and trip them up -- and even if
they block it, it’s a great way to get in and go for a throw. For someone who relies heavily on defense and
zoning (with a little magical flair), Viola’s a character I’d like to get to
know intimately.* Also the vampire dandy is back for more stabbing. Great success!
"Hooray! I get to have my blood sucked!"
If there was one thing
that worried me, it’s that the addition of “Critical Edges” -- flashy super
moves that wouldn’t be out of place in Street
Fighter -- would change the game for the worse. I’d seen my brother lose enough times in the
past to a random Ultra to know that giving a chance for players to shred 50% of
their opponent’s health in one go isn’t the best idea. Luckily, Critical Edges aren’t quite as
powerful. Useful? Yes.
But they’re less of a comeback mechanic and more of a tool, just like
any standard attack. And you don’t have
to input several million commands to combo into one (looking at you, Street Fighter); just know your
character and what they can do, and you’re golden.
She's particularly good at clawing your face off.
I wouldn’t call the
game perfect, though. I’ve owned and
played through three other Soulcalibur games,
and there’s one issue that I find constant: it feels button-mashy. I know, there’s plenty of depth, and if I
spent hours going over every nuance I’d say otherwise; still, I can’t shake
this instinct that hammering AA or BB is what stops an opponent’s offense,
rather than analysis and counter-offensives.
By the same token, I feel like I’m winning because I’m virtually
unpredictable -- using high and low attacks and unblockables without any
reasoning behind them other than “Okay, I just used a horizontal attack, now
I’ll kick ‘em in the shins.” And if I
lose, it’s because I didn’t know the other character could -- or WOULD -- do
that. It’s a far cry from the 2D
fighters I’m used to, where characters have more limited move sets and
therefore more defined attack patterns.
But that’s nitpicking,
and like I said I’ve only played SC5
for two days. I’ll get better (the
typical arms race between me and my brother in fighting games has already
started); as I do, the game will get better and more intricate. And real fighting gamers are all very
excited, cracking the code on “how to kick ass” even as I type this. For a game that’s been a part of a
near-comatose franchise to bring this much hope and hype is exemplary. The soul still burns.
But seriously, folks…I
hate that ninja girl.
All of my hate, you octopus-headed twit. All of my hate.
*Double entendre attack!
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